Well it wasn't quite a walk off but Justin Smoak won the game for the Mariners tonight. Smoak has become the hard hitter that we hoped that he would when he was traded for Cliff Lee, and I have to say he has impressed me quite a bit. We were down 2-0 against Mark Guthrie, who had shut us down all game. Ichiro was able to get on with an error, then Brendan Ryan followed him up with a hit, and then Smoak drove it out of the yard to put us up 3-2 and just half an inning away from a last second victory. I have to say that when we traded Cliff Lee I was not happy at the time because of how good of a player we had gotten rid of, but the truth of the matter is that we got a top of the line prspect who was on the cusp of being our best player last year and is almost definitely our best player this year.
His father passed earlier this year, and Smoak went on a hot streak following that time. I am glad to see how well he has done and will be happy to see him continue to flourish. He reminds me a bit of a young Jay Buhner and one day could have forty home run potential if he plays his cards right. It will definitely be interesting to see whether or not he lives up to his potential. A trade for Cliff Lee means that you are a highly touted prospect.
His home run tonight helped him snap out of a cold streak and I am looking forward to see what he is able to do moving forward. Hopefully this will be a turning point. Did anyone see the team react on the sideline after the home run? This is a team that knows how to fight and scrap for the win.
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